


What Does Love Feel Like?

by Jaelyn_Caliban62442



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, I Will Go Down With This Ship, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot Collection, Relationship(s), Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29178276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaelyn_Caliban62442/pseuds/Jaelyn_Caliban62442
Summary: Just a collection of one-shots for the ship Brainia. It will probably be a mess, and a mix of AUs, canon-compliant scenes, and whatever I can come up with. Spoilers for all of Supergirl, just watch it before you read this. Please.The fic is also on my Wattpad account.This is my first public fanfic, so comments and feedback are appreciated!
Relationships: Querl Dox/Nia Nal
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. The Breakup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brainy's point of view of the breakup at the end of 5x10

Brainy was still reeling from the news the other Brainiac-5 had told him. He had to leave Nia...to protect her. That wouldn’t make it hurt any less. According to his calculations, there was a ninety-nine percent chance Nia would be emotionally hurt by this decision, and a ninety-five percent chance that this would cause her to shed tears.

There was also a seventy-three percent chance he would lose her trust forever.

But maybe not. There were many variables he had possibly not considered for the last one. That didn’t ease the fear that she would hate him after what he needed to do.

Brainy took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Nia’s apartment. He had found her minutes after their first encounter and filed every detail about her into his mind after.

How could he have not? She was, simply put, beautiful, both inside and out. And so brave. Braver than him.

All of these thoughts rushed through his head as Nia opened the door. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, she pulled him into a tight embrace. Almost as if she knew what was about to happen. Maybe she had seen it in a dream?

But the glowing smile she gave him after made it clear she had no idea. And he was about to break her heart.

“So, how do you feel?” she asked enthusiastically. “Uninhibited?”

“Yes, something like that,” he replied quietly, trying to smile. She always seemed to have a pun at the ready. It was adorable.

“You know, I’m really glad to see you so comfortable in your own skin,” she said, leading him into her apartment. “It’s all I ever really wanted for you,” she added. “Just to be able to be yourself.”

Brainy sighed. She wasn’t making this easy for him. He didn’t want to hurt her. To see the betrayal and confusion that would ultimately follow what must be done.

“And now I am,” he replied. She smiled. “I can feel it. All throughout my body-the tips of my fingers.”

He had to do it now. There was no way he could delay this.

“But now, some things are going to have to change, Nia,” said Brainy.

She stepped closer, concerned. “Of course. Look Brainy, whatever you need, we’ll work it out. Together.” She cared so much, he didn’t want to hurt her. But this was better than letting Lex kill her, along with the rest of the team.

He took a deep breath. Little boxes. “Together. Yes. That’s-That’s what has to change,” he said. There. It was done.

Confusion showed on Nia’s face. “What?”

He shoved the last of his feelings for her down.

“I can’t be with you anymore.” He said it as if she were unnecessary in his life. And hated it.

>  
Nia took a step back, hurt written all over her face. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. A single tear fell down her cheek. “Who are you?” she asked.

“For the first time ever...myself,” he replied somewhat coldly. The little boxes were full, too full. He turned and walked away as if he didn’t care, but it was really so she couldn’t see the tears forming in his eyes.

Brainy walked away from her apartment for the last time and rushed outside. There, he used his legion ring to fly high above the clouds. He finally let a sob escape him and the tears come. It would be worth it if it saved her from Leviathan and Lex, he told himself.

But even that didn’t make it any easier. He flew to her window one last time. Not to stalk her, but to see how she handled it. It would hurt, but he wanted to know the extent of the damage he had caused. It would maybe help him feel again after acting so heartlessly.

Nia was curled up on the couch under a blanket. He could tell she was crying. Brainy wanted nothing more than to go back. Tell her he hadn’t meant a word of what he had said. There was a sixty-four percent chance she would forgive him, and a thirty-five percent chance she would be too angry and heartbroken to let him in again.

It didn’t matter. He would protect her, even if he had to act like he didn’t care. He would keep her alive, even if he died in the process.

There was no time to waste. He had to gain Lex’s trust in order to make this sacrifice worthwhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I was only able to come up with was sad stuff.


	2. Overworked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia is stressed by her workload at Catco, and Brainy helps her out.

Brainy hadn’t really noticed the change in Nia’s behavior. It was normal for her to drink a lot of coffee and sleep a lot, and generally be exhausted but somehow more optimistic than everyone else at the DEO, but what really gave it away didn’t happen for what could have been weeks after Nia had been feeling overworked.

Nia and Brainy had taken a part of the night shift for patrols. Nia barely said a single word the whole four hours. When Kara came to take over, she left without saying anything.

Brainy was concerned for her, and even with his differential calculus, could find no obvious reason why she was acting like this.

He decided to visit her apartment after she left them. Maybe he could figure out what was wrong. He got there, and the door was unlocked.

Brainy rushed in, hoping she wasn’t hurt, but instead found her on the couch surrounded by piles of papers and working on her laptop. She didn’t even look at him as he walked into the room.

“Nia, are you okay? You just had a four hour patrol and there is a good chance you haven’t slept all day,” he said. Nia looked up at him. Her eyes were red from exhaustion and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

“What happened?” asked Brainy, at her side in an instant.

“After Andrea took over Catco, she caught me asleep and didn’t care when I told her I have narcolepsy. She gave me extra work that day, and when I was able to handle it, she just kept giving me more and more,” Nia said. “How does she expect me to write four articles and file reports about Obsidian Platinum subscriptions in one day?”

She started to cry, and Brainy held her close.

“You should talk to Andrea. Tell her you’re feeling overworked and need a break,” said Brainy, annoyed at this Andrea for putting so much pressure on his girlfriend.

“No. She’ll fire me and ban me from the journalism world. I’ll never be able to write about the things I love again.”

“That woman has no right to just...take control over your life like that!” exclaimed Brainy, filled with anger. “I am going to Catco right now-”

“No, don’t. You’ll only make things worse,” said Nia gently.

“Then what can I do to help you?” he asked.

“Can you stay?” she asked in a small voice.

“Of course,” replied Brainy.

She curled up next to him and he said, “Really though, I would suggest getting some sleep. You can’t get anything done if you’re dead from exhaustion.”

Nia closed her laptop. “Okay. Give me one hour, okay? Do not let me keep sleeping.”

Brainy nodded, but they both knew he would let her sleep.

Nia rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. She was fast asleep within five minutes. He may have dozed off sometime around three A.M., and when he woke, it was just after six.

He gently shook Nia awake. He didn’t want to, but he had a plan to fix this.

Nia sat up. “I told you not to let me sleep!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to miss the bus and-”

“Nia. Calm down. You have enough time to get ready while I make breakfast for you. I can fly you to Catco, which will take approximately five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and you should be at your desk by seven, just as you prefer,” explained Brainy.

Nia took a deep breath and said, “Oh. Thanks, Brainy.”

“Of course,” he replied with a smile. Nia left to get ready and he made breakfast burritos while she was gone. She came back fifteen minutes later, looking more awake than she had in days, and she had only gotten about six hours of sleep.

Nia sat down and inhaled two of the breakfast burritos he had made.

“These are amazing! You’re a pretty good cook,” she said around a mouthful of food.

“It took practice,” replied Brainy. “The first time I made these, they were horribly burnt.” Nia laughed at that.

They finished breakfast together and walked out of Nia’s apartment together.

Brainy picked up Nia, as they had done this a few times to and from the DEO and flew off with her in his arms. Nia never ceased to be amazed by flying. She had always wished she were able to, and loved seeing the city from above.

Five minutes later, they landed outside of Catco.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to talk to your boss? You know how persuasive I can be,” said Brainy.

“No,” said Nia. “I’ll be fine, but thank you. Thank you for everything you did for me this morning.”

“I should get to the DEO,” said Brainy.

“Yeah, I’ll see you on patrol later,” she replied, hugging him.

She walked into Catco and sat down at her desk. To her surprise, there was no new stack of reports waiting for her. She headed to Andrea’s desk to drop off the files she had worked on the night before.

“Nia, I was hoping you’d drop by,” said Andrea.

It wasn’t like she had much of a choice, but Nia held her tongue.

“I’ve noticed how well you’ve been keeping up with the workload I’ve given you. Keep up the effort and you may succeed greatly here at Catco.”

Nia tried to hide her surprise.

“I’d like you to write something about the fashion district and their recent usage of Obsidian Lenses to promote their businesses,” she added.

“I’ll get right to it,” replied Nia with a hesitant smile. She went back to her desk and got started. On her lunch break, she called Brainy.

“Nia? Has something happened?” he asked anxiously.

“No,” she laughed. “No, I just wanted to let you know I’m free tonight. Would you want to come over and finally watch Star Wars with me like we planned?”

“I would love to finally understand the references the rest of the Superfriends make,” he replied.

“Then it’s a date,” she said, smiling.


	3. Together at Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after Brainy confesses his love for Nia in the season 4 finale.  
> Slight canon divergence

“And I love you.”

Nia almost stopped, but remembered the lives at risk. The core was bound to overload soon. She felt as though every ounce of her dream energy was being ripped from her. The core finally overloaded with power from her and J’onn, and she was sent flying backwards.

As she got to her feet, she turned to look at Brainy. He smiled, and at that moment, she knew the Brainy she had fallen for was back. Realigned, as he had said.

J’onn was the one to interrupt the moment.

“I think you two might want to talk,” he said, trying to hide his laughter.

Nia blushed. “No, it can wait, we need to rescue the aliens-”

“I can do that on my own,” said J’onn. “Seriously, I’m a psychic and I know for a fact I won’t be able to stand the awkwardness if you don’t talk this over.” And with that, he left them to save the aliens.

“So...you heard what I said,” commented Brainy. Nia simply nodded, unsure of what was coming.

“I meant every word of it, Nia Nal. You are an amazing woman and I’m so sorry I abandoned you. I love you, but if you hate me for what I did that’s understandable-”

Nia cut him off by kissing him, just as she had done at the hospital.

“I love you too, Brainy,” she said. “And the person who abandoned me wasn’t you. You would never do that to anyone you loved.”

“But what if it happens again? I could never forgive myself if I hurt you again,” said Brainy.

“Brainy, I don’t care what happens. I love you and I want to be close with you,” said Nia soothingly.

This time it was Brainy who leaned in and kissed her.

They broke apart. “You know, when I was in high school, I never had a boyfriend, so I’m pretty new to the whole ‘dating experience,’” confessed Nia.

“I have a hard time believing that someone as beautiful as you would have any difficulty attracting the attention of men your age,” said Brainy.

“I’m transgender, and boys didn’t want to date me because they didn’t want to be called gay,” Nia explained, trying to push away all of the memories. As accepting as people had been, the boys that were her age in her hometown had never had an interest in her, and it was no secret as to why.

“Nia Nal, I hope you know that nothing could make me love you any less,” said Brainy, taking both of her hands in his. “I’m also new to dating in the 21st century, so we will have to learn together,” he added.

They stood there for what could have been moments but felt like hours, until a sudden thought occurred to Nia.

“We should go help J’onn free the aliens,” said Nia.

“Of course,” replied Brainy, having forgotten about the situation.

They walked out of the room holding hands and found that the aliens had already been freed by J’onn.

“I guess he didn’t really need our help,” commented Nia. The two of them walked out of the power plant together, still holding hands. Kara, Alex, James, and J’onn were all standing around a crater. Upon closer observation, they saw it was the remnants of a Lexosuit.

“Lex Luthor is dead,” observed Brainy.

J’onn silently observed the two of them, and tried to hide his smile, knowing that they had finally acknowledged their feelings.

Kara looked up from the crater. She saw Brainy and Nia and the serious look was replaced by realization then excitement.

“OH MY GOD YOU FINALLY GOT TOGETHER!” she shouted. “You are the most adorable couple- HAH I TOLD YOU TWO THERE WAS SOMETHING THERE!” she exclaimed at J’onn and Alex.

“I never doubted it,” said J’onn.

“I thought it would take longer, considering Brainy’s lack of social skills,” said Alex. “But Kara has been shipping you since that rooftop brunch event when we found out Brainy is a stalker.”

“Well, she asked me to find her and I did!” exclaimed Brainy indignantly.

The others laughed, and Kara said, “Well I’m really happy for you two. It was about time.”

“Thank you?” said Brainy, unsure of how to respond. He was new to this form of enthusiasm that followed two people dating.

“Well, we saved the aliens, and killed Lex, but we still need to expose the president for his crimes,” said Kara.

“Let’s get to Catco right away and get the article published,” replied James.

Nia turned to Brainy. “I should go with them,” she said.

“No you shouldn’t,” said Alex. “You’ve been through a horrible ordeal, getting captured. Go home and get some sleep and we’ll see you tomorrow night at J’onn’s house for game night.”

If you’re sure you don’t need me…”

“James and I can handle Catco today, we’ll see you tomorrow,” said Kara.

“All right,” she replied.

Without another word, Brainy took her hand and they walked back to her apartment together, ignoring Kara’s comment of “Aww, they’re so cute!!!!!!!”

Neither of them stopped smiling the whole walk home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brainy and Nia go to the DEO Desert facility with Alex and J'onn.

“We need to take a trip to the DEO desert facility,” said Alex. “We need to know if there’s anything amiss this time after the disaster with Lockwood and Lex.”

“I shall accompany you on this mission,” offered Brainy.

“I’ll come too,” added Nia. Brainy smiled at her and Alex tried her best to maintain her composure, but those two were just so adorable.

“J’onn will meet us at the van in fifteen minutes, so get ready,” said Alex. Brainy and Nia nodded and went to prepare. Nia put on her supersuit and met the others at the van. J’onn was driving with Alex navigating, leaving Nia and Brainy in the backseat together, which suited them fine.

“We have a four hour-drive ahead of us, so you might want to get some sleep,” commented J’onn.

“J’onn, you were supposed to turn right just now,” said Alex.

“No, we still have another four miles,” replied J’onn.

They continued to argue, and Nia leaned onto Brainy’s shoulder. She was asleep in minutes. Brainy rested his head on hers and fell asleep too. They had both taken a one A.M. shift the night before and were clearly exhausted.

Alex and J’onn had finally figured out where to go, and Alex turned around to see how the two of them were doing, only to find them asleep together. She noted that they were holding hands. Even in sleep, they were inseparable. Since Brainy had left Nia at Shelly Isalnd when he was rebooted, he had been hesitant to leave her side, even for a moment.

She turned in her seat and pulled out her phone to get a picture of the two of them. She sent it to Kara, who replied with a bunch of heart-eyes emojis. She silently showed J’onn, who tried to keep a straight face. Then, remembering it was just Alex, he allowed himself to smile at the love between the two young teammates.

They woke up about twenty minutes before the van pulled up in front of the DEO desert facility.

“J’onn and I will check with the staff and review their documents. You two will stay out here. Someone may have been aware that we were coming here and try to attack us,” said Alex.

Nia and Brainy nodded in assent.

As soon as Alex and J’onn went inside, Nia said, “Brainy, why don’t you take a look from above? We can only see so much from here on the ground.”

Brainy hesitated. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me stay here with you?”

“Brainy, I can take care of myself. I’ll circle the perimeter from the ground while you circle from above. We can go in opposite directions and meet back here in ten minutes,” said Nia.

Brainy ran some calculations. The odds of her being attacked by an alien and being put in a life-threatening situation was about seven point three percent. Not bad, considering they had faced worse.

“Alright,” he conceded. “But if you feel anything is slightly wrong, call me immediately.”

“Sounds good,” said Nia. They went in opposite directions.

From his vantage point in the sky, Brainy could see nothing wrong. The desert stretched out for miles, with few landmarks or vegetation. He could see Niaon the other side of the compound. He was about to turn away, but movement in the corner of his vision caught his eye. He almost thought his mide was playing tricks on him, but then he saw it. And his blood ran cold.

Nia was heading in the direction of a pile of rocks, and within the rocks, there was a nest of snakes. Rattlesnakes, if he had to guess. His usually sharp mind went completely numb from fear. All he knew was that he had to get her out of there.

Nia hadn’t paid much attention to the pile of rocks she was headed toward. She had been on alert for aliens approaching from another direction. She heard a faint rattling noise and turned to the direction it came from. She didn’t see anything, and figured it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

She had been so focused on looking around that she didn’t notice the snake until it was less than a foot in front of her. It was a small one, and retreated from her quickly.

She breathed a sigh of relief. The small rattlesnake was all she had heard and it was clearly not dangerous.

Or at least, that’s what she thought until two larger snakes each about five feet long. They reared to strike her and she summoned her powers.

Brainy saw the two snakes on either side of her and sped toward Nia. She was able to fling one of them out of the way with a dream lasso. The other one though, was still about to strike, and by his calculations, there was a fifty percent chance she would not be able to block its attack.

So without a clear pan, he flew down to her and threw himself between her and the snake.

Brainy was absolutely terrified of snakes and it seemed to come toward him in slow motion but so fast at the same time.

Nia turned in time to see a blur that was Brainy and the snak striking hime once in the leg.

It reared and bit him again on the arm. Before it could do any more damage, she summoned another burst of dream energy and flung the snake far away from them.

Brainy’s leg started to give out from under him and she grabbed him to keep him from falling.

She spoke into her earpiece, saying, “Alex, we need medical assistance on the south side of the perimeter. Brainy was bitten by a rattlesnake.” She tried to keep her voice steady, but Alex could tell she was scared.

“I’m coming, just hold on,” replied Alex.

“Lean on me, we’ll try to get you closer to the building,” said Nia.

Brainy put his uninjured arm around her shoulders and they staggered toward the building.

“Nia, you are worrying too much,” said Brainy weakly.

“Brainy, you were bitten by a venomous snake, I think I have a right to worry about you.”

“My healing process is faster since I’m a Coluan. I’ll be fine,” he argued.

Alex came out of the building with a few other agents. They took Brainy into the medical bay, but told Nia and Alex to wait outside the room.

Nia sat down in one of the chairs, still shaking.

“Are you okay?” asked Alex.

“I should have seen something like this coming,” said Nia, “I should have at least seen the snake nest.”

“Nia, no one could have seen this coming,” said Alex. “We were so focused on alien threats that we forgot to consider the natural ones that come with the environment.”

“Yeah. Why would he do that though? Rush in with no plan, when I was clearly capable of stopping both snakes?” asked Nia.

Alex rolled her eyes.

“Nia, I thought Kara was the most oblivious person in the world, but you are becoming a close second. He loves you and just wants to protect you.”

“I’m going to have to talk to him about this though,” said Nia, mostly to herself.

Just then, a nurse came out from the room.

“His condition is stable, and thanks to his accelerated healing, should be free to go in about five hours,” she informed them.

“Thank you so much,” said Nia. “Can I visit him now?”

“Of course,” replied the nurst with a small smile. “But he will need rest.”

Nia nodded and headed into the room. Brainy was in one of the hospital beds sitting upright.

“What were you thinking?” Nia said. “You could have been killed, and I was about to handle the situation. I know you mean well, but please stop acting like I can’t take care of myself on missions!” The words rushed out before she could stop them.

Brainy looked shocked for a moment, then the realization set in.

“Nia, I never meant to make you feel like you were incapable of protecting yourself,” said Brainy. “After I left you at the power plant, I swore to myself that I would never let you be in danger again.”

Nia took a deep breath. She hadn’t expected this.

“Brainy, we’re heroes. Being in danger is part of the job. I love that you care so much, I really do, no one can control everything, not even a twelfth-level intellect.”

“I’m so sorry I made you feel as though I thought you were weak. You are one of the strongest people I know. From now on, I promise to treat you as an equal instead of trying to shield you from everything.”

“Thanks Brainy. And next time, please leave fighting snakes to the person who can manipulate energy instead of throwing yourself in their path.”

Brainy smiled. “I would be glad to, seeing that I still have a deep phobia of snakes and it was not helped by this incident.”

Nia was suddenly overwhelmed by her affection for him. He had faced one of his worst fears to try and keep her safe.

She leaned in and kissed him.

They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

It was Alex.

“I know you both have been through a lot in the past few hours, but Brainy needs rest, so I suggest that you leave him alone for a few hours,” she said, then turned and left.

Nia nodded and started walking toward the door, but before she left, she turned and looked at Brainy.

“I love you,” she said.

“And I love you, Nia Nal,” he replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the people reading this! I was really excited to post my first fic and I'm glad people are seeing it.  
> If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments! There's no guarantee I'll get around to writing it, but I'm open to ideas. I do not write smut though.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brainy takes Nia to train at the fortress. Kara gives Nia some advice.

Nia had just gotten home from Catco and was hoping for a few minutes alone before Yvette showed up, probably with a friend or two. Mackenzie had pitched the fashion article before her again, so she had to cover the stock market for this week.

It was just after seven and Nia made herself a bowl of noodles from the packages in their pantry.

She wondered if she would get a chance to use her powers again. Nia hoped she had made a good impression on Kara as a fighter, but she was worried that maybe she should have been more aware, and that they might not want her on the team if she wasn’t capable enough.

She had asked Brainy to train her, but hadn’t heard from him for over two days. It had been busy at the DEO, with the Sons of Liberty causing issues.

Maybe Brainy was mad that she had gone to Kelex to learn more about her powers, possibly “destroying the fabric of space-time.”

She had forgotten to ask what his problem was with Kelex.

Last time they had gone to the fortress, she had been a little unprepared and he had given her his jacket, the one he always wore around the DEO. Something in her chest warmed a little whenever she thought about that.

She sat on the couch and decided to try her astral projecting again. It was getting much better, and she could walk a few feet away from her body before flickering out.

She tried a few times, and before she knew it, almost an hour had passed.

One more time, she thought. She had told herself that the last three times, but had been disappointed in her performance and kept going.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She focused, and was able to slowly pry her spirit from her body.

She looked at her body, sitting upright on the couch. It got weird if she watched it for too long, so she started walking, wanting to see how far she could go before she flickered out.

To her surprise, she was able to get through the door of her apartment and into the hallway. She turned right and almost ran into someone as they came down her hallway.

Or at least, she would have run into them had her body been there.

She realized the person in her apartment building was Brainy.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Much to her confusion, he didn’t look her way. He knocked on the door of her apartment. There was no response, since she was standing there next to him.

She waved her hand in front of his face.

“Why can’t you see me?” she asked.

He opened the door to her apartment. She had left it unlocked for when Yvette came home. He saw her body sitting upright on the couch and realization dawned on his face.

“Given the circumstances, there was a seventy-four percent chance that you would be astral projecting when I arrived. But you can’t be far from here, Nia Nal.

“I have now calculated that there is an eighty-seven percent chance that you tried to communicate with me in the hallway and were perplexed when you were unable to.”

Nia closed her eyes and returned to her physical body.

She opened her eyes and said, “You were right. About all of that.”

“It’s comforting to know that I wasn’t just talking to myself in an empty apartment building,” he replied.

“Supergirl has requested your presence at the fortress for more training. Although, I see you have been doing quite well on your own,” he added with a small smile.

“Thanks,” replied Nia.

“I also brought you a jacket that will be equipped for the temperature of the fortress and still allow you to train unencumbered,” he said, handing her a black DEO jacket.

“Thank you,” she said, putting it on.

“I will fly you to the fortress. Supergirl plans to be there when we arrive,” said Brainy.

“Okay,” replied Nia.

He led her to the balcony of her apartment.

“It will take us about ten minutes to get there, so you will want to hold on tightly,” he warned.

He awkwardly approached her.

“May I?” he asked.

“Yeah,” replied Nia. She hoped the darkness of the night sky would hide her blush. It had been a little different with Kara.

Brainy picked her up bridal-style and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hoping she wouldn’t fall.

They were flying over cities at incredible speeds, and her face was numb from the cold wind. At least it would be harder to tell how much she was blushing.

She was trying to relax, but being this close to him was not helping. She was ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, trying to just associate it with excitement to go back to the fortress.

But she was pretty sure he might like her too. The “date” maybe hadn’t turned out the way she had thought it would, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

The ten minute flight went by both incredibly fast and so slowly.

They landed in the fortress in front of Kara, and Nia was finally able to be on solid ground again. Brainy walked off, saying he needed to prepare the training area, leaving Nia and Kara together.

“So how was the flight here?” asked Kara in a teasing voice.

“It was fine. Why do you ask?” asked Nia, trying to sound nonchalant instead of panicked.

“You’re blushing. A lot,” she commented.

“I-”

“Nia, it is painfully obvious that he also likes you. Don’t think I didn’t notice he gave you his jacket last time we were here,” said Kara.

“He’s from the future, it might not mean the same thing as it does now,” reasoned Nia.

“Nia, he fell for you. Literally. On your apartment floor,” Kara said, trying not to smile.

Nia laughed at the reminder of their first meeting.

“Okay, but now is a bad time. We have so much on our hands with the Children of Liberty and the Elite-”

“You need to take the leap,” said Kara. “You never know what will happen. You may have less time then you think.” She paused, remembering Mon-El.

“Thank you, Kara, I will definitely keep it in mind,” said Nia.

“Nia, I have prepared your training exercises for this evening,” called Brainy from the other room. Nia smiled at Kara and made her way out of the room.

She wouldn’t tell him today. But she would eventually, and maybe there was a chance that it could work.

Maybe they could be together, when the time was right.


	6. Almost Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place after 5x19.  
> I'm not great at summaries, if you can't tell. ;)

Nia woke from her vision with a start. Suddenly everything was clear. Brainy… he had never betrayed them. He saved them from Leviathan by working with Lex.

It all made sense now. The dreams, the way he had been acting.

And now Lex had left him, possibly to die.

“You were right,” Nia said to M’gann. “Brainy needs my help.”

“What?” asked Alex.

“Brainy-he was working with Lex so that he could save us and now he needs our help.”

Supergirl landed in the wreckage caused by the elementals. “J’onn said I was needed here. What happened?”

“Brainy stopped Leviathan, but he needs our help,” explained Nia.

“Do you know where he is?” asked Alex.

“No… but he shrunk the elementals, right? We could find the source of the energy output,” suggested Nia.

“I’ll get you to Lena, she can figure it out,” said Kara, trying to suppress a smile. Nia would have rolled her eyes at Kara’s obliviousness if the situation hadn’t been so dire.

Kara picked up Nia and flew her to L-Corp.

“Lena, we need your help, Brainy’s in danger,” said Nia.

“What can I do?” she asked calmly.

“Leviathan was defeated and there was a huge transfer of energy. Can you trace it?” asked Kara. Lena was already running an algorithm on her computer. The minutes went by. Nia tried to relax, but the vision of Brainy collapsing on the floor kept coming back.

“I got it,” said Lena. She gave them the location of Leviathan’s ship. Kara picked up Nia and they rushed to get there, hoping they weren’t too late.

Brainy watched Lex walk out of the ship with the bottle in his hand. He tried to follow, but his body wouldn’t respond to his commands. Just as Lex had said, he would die alone. His friends thought he had betrayed them, Lex didn’t care about him and Nia.. Nia probably thought the worst of him.

How had the plan gone so wrong? He had been certain he would be able to bottle Leviathan and save his friends from Lex’s wrath. He had been so wrong… and now his friends would die because of his incompetence. Tears were streaming down his face. Even if he couldn’t survive, he would have given anything to see Nia’s face one last time.

The radiation poisoning was taking effect faster. It was a miracle he had even lasted this long. He could feel the presence of his fellow Brainiac-five, holding his hand as he died. It wasn’t much of a comfort, but he hadn’t wanted to die alone. But in a way, he still was.

Nia… he wished he could tell her how sorry he was. That he loved her, and never wanted to hurt her. How he wanted to keep her safe at all costs.

But he would never get the chance. Everything was getting a little blurred. He must have started hallucinating, because he could see someone on the other side of the glass door. Her hands glowed with blue energy. She almost looked like Nia… that is, if Nia even knew where he was or wanted to save him.

Another shae stood at her side. It looked like Supergirl, wearing the suit he had designed.

The realization hit him. It was them! Nia must have seen something in a dream.

Kara easily shattered the glass with her fists. He saw Nia run to him, just as he did when she had almost been killed by the other Brainiac five.

He remembered the radiation shield.

“Nia don’t!” he shouted weakly. “Stop!”

But his voice was too weak and she couldn’t hear him. He watched in horror as she fell to her knees, screaming in pain. Luckily, Kara grabbed her and pulled her back, away from the shield.

“Hold on Brainy, we’re coming,” said Kara.

“No, don’t,” he gasped. He was going to die, couldn’t they tell? There was no point in risking themselves to save him. It was no use, though. Either his voice was too weak or they refused to listen.

There was a flash, and Brainy found himself outside the shield. Kara had used her speed to bring him out without getting hurt. She was now on the ground next to him, gasping for breath.

Nia was at his side in an instant. There was so much he wanted to say, but everything was shutting down, there was no time…

“Brainy, can you hear me?” she asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

“We’re going to get you somewhere safe, okay? You’re going to be fine, you saved us, just hold on.” The words rushed out of her and tears were threatening to choke her.

“He’s suffering from radiation poisoning,” said J’onn gravely. Nia hadn’t noticed his arrival.

Supergirl got to her feet and said, “I’ll take him to the hospital.” She flew away with him in her arms.

“I’ve got you,” said J’onn, and he grabbed Nia. They flew alongside Supergirl to the hospital that Lena owned.

People rushed by as the four of them landed at the doors. Supergirl sped into the building and J’onn and Nia followed at a slower speed.

By the time they reached Supergirl, Brainy was being carried on a stratcher to a room. As he passed, Nia felt another wave of fear hit her. What if he didn’t wake up? He had sacrificed so much to save them, he didn’t deserve to die.

Supergirl was escorted out of the room by one of the doctors. Before she left, the doctor handed her an envelope. Supergirl came over to join Nia and J’onn and the doctor closed the door.

“We might as well take a seat,” said Kara, and they took the bench outside of the room.

“We were so wrong about him,” said Nia. “We should have known he was acting trange because he was upset, he would never shut us out like that. We could have helped him-”

“Nia, no one could have predicted this,” said Kara gently. “You don’t have to blame yourself for this.” She paused. Kara wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Kara handed Nia the envelope.

“It found it on the ground, it fell out of his pocket,” she explained.

Nia took it. Her name was written on it in Brainy’s handwriting. With shaking hands, she started to open it.

“We’ll give you some space,” said J’onn, and he and Kara walked down the hallway and out of sight.

Nia pulled a folded sheet of paper out of the envelope with shaking hands.

It said:

My Dearest Nia Nal,

If you are reading this, then I presume you have found me in Leviathon’s ship. I am dead, or close to it, depending on how long it took for you to find me.

I have lied to all of you. I worked for Lex Luthor to stop Leviathon and could have caused many deaths while helping him. But I did have a reason for this. One of the other Brainiac-5s explained that she also fought against Lex in her world, and the loss of life from Levaithon was not worth refusing to cooperate with Lex. I’m not making excuses for betraying all of you, but I want you to know that I did it for what I thought was good.

Nia, I’m so sorry. I know I broke your heart, and I couldn’t even give you an explanation. It tore me apart, but I did it to protect you. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I wanted to finally be able to tell you why I had to hurt you. I tried to keep you safe the best I could, even after I ended things.

My hope is that I have stopped Leviathan, saving you and the rest of the team. You can take down Lex Luthor on your own, without me.

You are strong, and have never needed me, Nia. Always remembe that.

I still love you Nia Nal, and I am so sorry it has to end like this. Know that you are all that will be on my mind as I try to end Leviathan once and for all.

Nia finished reading, her vision blurred by tears. Why hadn’t she known? If she had cared more, maybe this would have been prevented.

He had never meant to hurt her… somehow that was making the situation all the more painful.

Kara came down the hallway. She had used her x-ray vision and concluded that Nia would need her support.

“Kara, he never meant to betray us.” the words started rushing out of her. She was desperate to prove that Brainy was good. “The other Brainiac told him she fought Lex and Leviathan killed a crazy amount of people, so he had to work with Lex if he wanted to keep more people safe.”

Kara took a deep breath. Neither of them had been expecting this.

“Kara, I should have known, he hasn’t been himself for weeks and I thought it was the inhibitors, that’s why he was so cold, but he was just trying to keep us safe,” said Nia, sobbing.

“Nia, I’m telling you again, no one saw this coming,” said Kara, pulling Nia into her arms.

“Do you have information about his condition?” asked Nia.

“Well…” Kara didn’t want to admit it, but she had been using her super-hearing to stay updated on how he was doing.

“Kara, I know you’ve been listening to the doctors in there,” said Nia.

“They’re not sure if he’s going to make it,” whispered Kara.

And just like that, all of Nia’s worst fears were confirmed.

Just then, one of the doctors came out of the room.

“We’ve done all that we can,” she said. “It’s up to his alien healing abilities to save him. A lot of his cells were killed by the radiation and if he were a human, he would certainly be dead by now.”

“Thank you,” said Kara. “Are you allowing visitors?”

“The nurse hesitated. Normally she would refuse, but it was near-impossible to say no to Supergirl of all people.

“Yes. But only two people at the most,” said the doctor, and she walked away.

Nia was at the door in an instant. Brainy was lying on a hospital bed, with many machines connected to him. A heart monitor beeped steadily from the other side of the room.

Nia took a chair from the other side of the room and pulled it close to the bed. She sat down and watched him breathing.

“Come on, Brainy. You have to fight this. You’ve got to make it through this,” she whispered. Tears streamed down her face as she said it.

All she could think about was how he had always been trying to keep her safe.

How he slid to her after the other Brainiac attacked her for the bottle. He had carried her to the hospital wing of the DEO.

How he had risked his life to save her from the DEO as it was collapsing.

And in return, she had refused to trust him and been angry with him.

“Please wake up, Brainy,” she begged. “Don’t leave me.” Her tears fell onto her lap.

She took his hand.

“I still need you, don’t go.”

“I love you,” she whispered. It hurt, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

She couldn’t force herself to imagine a world where he was gone. She just wanted to keep him safe, even though she had failed before.

Was it just her imagination, or was the heart monitor slowing?

No, it was slowing. She remembered what the nurse had told her.

“It’s up to his alien healing abilities to save him.”

“No no no no NO NO,” she sobbed. “Please don’t go!”

A burst of blue energy flew uncontrolled from her. Her emotions made it impossible to control her emotions.

The blue energy was fading away.

Brainy was lying still on the table.

Nia looked at the heart monitor, afraid of what she would see.

His heartbeat… it was stable! Somehow it was faster again.

“Please don’t go,” she repeated in a small voice.

“I need you.”

“I love you,” she whispered so softly, it was barely audible.

“I love you too.”

Brainy opened his eyes and looked at Nia. Her face was stained with tears and her hand was gripping his.

“You’re awake,” she gasped.

“Nia, you didn’t need me. You are so strong on your own,” he said weakly, having heard much of what she said, but being unable to respond.

“You heard what I said?” she asked.

“I couldn’t say a word. I was in a strange state, not conscious, but aware of your voice,” he replied.

“Nia, I’m so sorry, I broke your heart and betrayed you-”

“You did it for a good reason. And I still love you,” she cut him off.

Nia leaned closer to him and kissed him.

All of the pain Brainy had felt the past few months from lying to her vanished as soon as she was close to him again.

They pulled apart, and Brainy said, “I never want to hurt you like that again.”

“You won’t. At least, not without reason. But Brainy, I’m here for you. Let me help you,” said Nia.

“From now on, I will be more...open with you,” said Brainy hesitantly.

“Good,” replied Nia with a smile. “Can I join you?”

“Of course,” he replied, moving over in the hospital bed and wincing. It was still painful to move. And breathe.

Nia snuggled next to him. It was a tight fit, but they made it work.

They both fell asleep in minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of the people you have read this fic, left comments, and left kudos!  
> If you have any prompts, you can leave them in the comments. It may take a very long time to write something, as I am new to writing and posting fics.  
> Also, I appreciate any feedback, so let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia is injured and sent to the DEO to recover, where Brainy is working undercover for Lex.  
> Takes place sometime around 5x15

Nia was curled up on the couch with a pint of ice cream for the third night in a row. Thanks to her Naltorian biology, the sugar had less of an effect on her body than it would a normal human. Not that it wasn’t bad for her, just less bad.

Yvette burst through the door, loud as ever. She saw Nia on the couch and sighed.

“Girl, are you still moping over that strange nerd? He couldn’t even dance, you could do so much better than that!” she exclaimed.

Nia laughed at her comment about dancing. It was true that he was an awkward dancer, but she had always found it cute.

“You need to get out of the house for a while, okay? You are becoming an antisocial loser.” Always sugar-coating things.

But, Nia decided, a distraction might be nice.

“Okay,” conceded Nia. “Where do you want to go?”

“I’m meeting my boyfriend at the club tonight. He’ll be excited to meet you.”

Nia almost rolled her eyes. Of course she was being dragged along as a third wheel.

“Is it still Conner you’re going out with, or have you started seeing someone else?” asked Nia. Yvette dated a lot, and it was hard to keep track of her boyfriends.

“No, it’s Aaron now,” said Yvette. “I’ve told him about you, and I’ll tell him to bring a friend.” She picked up her phone. “Maybe we can finally find someone right for you!”

Nia panicked. She had not planned on being dragged into a double-date with someone she had never met before.

“Yvette, that won’t be necessary,” said Nia. “I just wanted to relax-”

“It’ll be fun, trust me,” said Yvette as she sent the message.

“What time are we leaving?” asked Nia a bit apprehensively.

“In a half hour, so let’s get you ready,” said Yvette.

A half hour later, they were out the door, with Nia wearing a sequined violet dress. She wasn’t thrilled about meeting Aaron’s friend, but it might at least take her mind off Brainy.

It was fine that he didn’t want to be with her anymore. But he could have at least told her why. That was what made it hurt the most.

She pushed those thoughts away. If Brainy no longer cared, she didn’t want to think about him anymore.

The club was only a few blocks away from the apartment, so Nia and Yvette were able to walk there in a few minutes.

They stood at the bar, the music blaring and the beat so loud, Nia felt like it was pounding in her head.

“There they are!” exclaimed Yvette. She rushed over to a tall, dark haired man and a slightly shorter blond one.

“Nia, this is Aaron,” said Yvette, gesturing to the blonde man.

“Nice to meet you,” said Nia.

“I brought my friend Chris,” said Aaron. “You can get to know each other while I get a dance with my girlfriend.”

And Yvette left Nia alone with someone she hadn’t met.

“Were you dragged into this double date too?” asked Chris.

Nia looked at him, surprised. “Yeah, I was just dumped by someone I cared about. A lot. But it’s nice to meet you,” she added, hoping she didn’t sound rude.

“Let’s step outside, the music in here is so loud,” he said. Nia agreed, but felt a bit of anxiety over leaving Yvette.

“They won’t miss us, trust me,” said Chris reassuringly.

“Okay,” replied Nia, and they headed out the back door of the club into the alleyway behind the building.

He held the door open for her, and she stepped outside.

She didn’t register the gunshots until she felt the stabbing pain throughout her body.

She gasped and found herself collapsed on the ground.

Chris and several other men leaned over her.

Several punches were thrown at her face, and she was unable to defend herself.

“You are filth, and should be removed. The alien roaches are bad, but some of the worst vermin seem to come from this planet,” Chris spat at her. Then he and the others were gone, leaving Nia bleeding in the alley.

She couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but at some point a blurred figure approached her. She felt herself floating-was she dying?

Eventually, she couldn’t keep herself awake and slipped out of consciousness.

Brainy was still at the DEO when he got a call from Kara.

“Brainy, it’s Nia. She’s been shot, and I’m bringing her to the DEO. The tech here is far more advanced and if she has any chance of surviving, it’ll be here.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment from the shock of it. Then he composed himself. Lex could be listening from anywhere.

“I will prepare a medical team to assist her immediately,” he replied emotionlessly.

As soon as Kara hung up, he rushed to the medical wing.

“There’s an incoming patient, Naltorian, who needs medical attention to bullet wounds.” A team of medical agents gathered and set up a room for her.

Supergirl flew into the DEO carrying Nia.

Oh god, Nia…

She had been shot in the abdomen. He could tell by the dark bloodstain covering her dress. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises.

Rage was starting to fill him. Who had done this to her?

Supergirl laid Nia down on the operating table that the DEO nurses had prepared. The doors to her room were closed, but he could see everything through the glass.

He stood there for what seemed like hours, just hoping.

Hoping she would pull through.

The last thing he had done to her was break her heart.

Had he been there for her, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Don’t go, Nia, I still need you,” he whispered so only he could hear.

Brainy regained his composure and approached Supergirl.

“I assume you caught the ones responsible for this?” he said.

Supergirl hesitated, and that was all the answer he needed.

“She would have died if I didn’t move quickly,” she said.

“That is understandable,” replied Brainy calmly.

There was one thing he could do: Find out who did this. It was a welcome distraction from worrying about Nia.

Brainy used the DEO network and searched all of the security camera feeds from an hour ago and saw Nia and her roommate, Yvette, enter a club.

He looked through the feed from inside the club, seeing Yvette leaving Nia with a blonde white boy, then seeing Nia follow him outside.

She hadn’t been given a moment to think, they just shot her.

He saw her collapse, and the rage increased.

Little boxes. He had to track the men who did this to her.

He used the city cameras to follow them to a house in the suburbs. They hadn’t left yet, so he quickly found the location and used his Legion ring to fly there.

Without second thought, he kicked down the door. The men scrambled to get their weapons, and he dodged the bullets sent his way with ease.

“What do you want with us?” one shouted.

Brainy pulled out one of the DEO devices and replayed the footage of them shooting Nia.

“That’s not me!” exclaimed one.

“Yeah, how could you accuse us of this, we didn’t do anything!”

Brainy then zoomed in on the attacker’s face.

“I have run facial recognition, and it was clearly you who attacked her,” he said emotionlessly.

“I called the police here approximately three minutes ago and they should arrive right about...now.” The sound of sirens rose in the distance, getting closer.

The four men were still in shock, unsure of what to do. Brainy stayed there, silently daring them to make another move until the police rushed in and arrested them.

“Thank you for your help in the investigation,” said one of the officers.

“Based on what I saw, the investigation could have been completed had you put effort into it, instead of acting like her life matters less,” replied Brainy coldly, and with that, he returned to the DEO, anxious to check on Nia’s condition.

Supergirl was waiting for him when he entered the building.

“She’s going to be okay,” she informed him. “The bullet missed her vital organs and there’s no sign of infection.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“That is excellent news,” he replied, trying not to let the relief show on his face.

Little boxes. He couldn’t jeopardize the mission. Little boxes.

Nia woke up in the hospital bed. The last thing she remembered was going to the club with Yvette. Then she remembered being attacked in the alleyway.

She sat up, and realized that she was at the DEO. Which meant…

Brainy. He was outside the room talking with Kara. He looked into the room and made eye contact with her for a moment.

A moment that felt like a lifetime.

There was something different about his gaze. For the shortest fraction of time, she thought she saw emotion, sadness maybe?

But before she could process it, it was replaced by a coldness she had only seen when he was aligned with his ancestors.

Brainy looked away almost immediately, and he walked away.

Nia tried to ignore the hurt. When people broke up, they didn’t talk to each other. That was how it worked. But she had thought that maybe they could still be friends, or at least talk.

She wondered what she had done to make him so cold towards her.

Kara came in to check on her, and Nia put her mind back to the situation. She was going to try not to think about Brainy for much longer. Kara approached Nia.

“I need to find out who shot me. The rest of my community is at risk still,” said Nia urgently.

“I did some searching, but apparently Brainy already caught the guys who did it and they’re currently facing at least fifteen years in prison, maybe more,” replied Kara.

“Oh,” said Nia, a bit taken aback. “I wonder why he would do that.”

Kara sighed. “He’s really changed. One minute he’s on our side, and the next he’s acting so distant.”

Nia looked away so that Kara couldn’t see the tears pooling in her eyes.

Brainy sped down the hallway and into one of the empty storage rooms. She took a deep breath.

Little boxes.

He saw the hurt on Nia’s face when he broke up with her.

He saw the same hurt again today when she saw him outside of the hospital.

Little boxes.

But the boxes were breaking, and he hated acting so cold to Nia.

A few tears streamed down his face as he tried to keep himself together. He pressed his forehead into the cold wall of the room and just tried to breathe.

He had to hurt her to protect her.

He repeated this to himself, trying to convince himself that it was going to be worth it.

Brainy was in that room for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes. He managed to regain his cold composure and went back out.

“I was looking for you!” exclaimed Kara.

“As director, I occasionally have other matters to attend to,” he replied flatly. Kara’s eyes widened in surprise, and she was just another person that he would have to hurt before he could defeat Leviathan.

“Right. Of course,” she said.

“Given that her condition is becoming more stable, might I suggest having her moved to a different medical facility?” he asked in a way that implied it was more of a command.

“Okay…” said Kara hesitantly. “You wouldn’t prefer if she stayed here?”

Brainy shoved down the pain coming back into his mind, threatening to take over.

“It would be better if she left as soon as possible,” he said, then abruptly turned away. He passed the room where Nia was staying, and kept his eyes forward.

There was a ninety-three percent chance she was watching him.

He pushed the thoughts of her down and confined himself to the Director’s office, where he planned to look for more information on Leviathan. He would stay there until Nia left the premises.

He would avoid contact with her unless it was absolutely necessary.

It was better off that way for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update, my schedule was packed the last few days.


	8. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy nightmare one-shot. I know this trope is a little overdone, but I couldn't help it.

Nia screamed Brainy’s name as she was dragged away from him. She struggled to get free from her captors, but the power dampening cuffs made it impossible to do much. She would have to bide her time to make an escape plan.

“We have special orders for what to do to you,” said the one man in a metal mask.

Nia didn’t give him a reply.

She was led to a small cell with a chair. There were power-dampening cuffs attached for her hands and feet.

They would have to release her from these cuffs to get her in the chair. Now was her chance.

She tried to keep her face neutral. She could take out the three men holding her with one dream lasso. She just had to time it right…

Just then, she felt something cold pressing against the base of her skull. The man behind her was holding a gun to her head.

Her breaths got shorter and her mind went blank from fear.

She didn’t want to die.

Not like this.

“Don’t even think about trying anything,” said the man. “I might just kill you now… get it over with. But by the end of this, I’m sure Lockwood will have you executed, so…”

Nia involuntarily closed her eyes.

Would she feel anything? It seemed so childish to be scared of this. She knew the risks of being a hero, but this was much more terrifying than she could have ever imagined.

One twitch of a finger would be all it took for her life to end.

“We can’t kill her yet,” said the woman who had accompanied them.

“And why’s that?” asked the man rudely.

The woman sighed, irritated. “You know how much Lockwood will want to take care of her himself. If not, she’ll be needed at her next stop.”

“Fine,” grumbled the man. The gun was still pressed into her head.

“If you make one wrong move, I will personally go and kill your blue friend that came with you,” threatned the man, putting the gun down.

Nia didn’t dare to move muscle. It was bad enough that she could have died, but Brainy could not die. This whole operation had been her idea, and she would never forgive herself if he didn’t make it out alive.

Suddenly, he returned the gun to the base of her skull.

It was cold and unyeilding. She was going to die.

Fear filled her, making it impossible to think, and she could barely breathe.

Nia woke up and sat upright, breathing heavily.

It was just a dream.

Just a dream.

She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. The dream about what had happened at the power plant came back more often than she cared. And the dreams always felt so real.

“Nia, are you okay?” Brainy asked from the other side of the bed.

“Yeah, why would you ask?” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Your heartbeat is approximately twenty beats per minute faster than normal, and your average sleep schedule would have you asleep right now,” he replied.

Nia chose not to respond, as it was hard to argue with a twelfth-level intellect.

“Nia, you can talk to me. I’m here for you,” said Brainy.

She knew that if she told him the truth, he would feel even worse than he already did about leaving her. She considered her options. There was no way she could tell anyone else on the Superfriends team. They faced threats worse than that every day, and talking to them about it would make her seem weak. There was always Kelly, but Nia felt like she didn’t know her very well, and didn’t want to make things awkward.

“I want to help you,” added Brainy quietly.

Nia took a deep breath. She noticed she was still shaking from the dream.

“When I was held prisoner by the Sons of Liberty, I um… well… one of them held a gun to my head. I know, you and the others have faced worse, but I was terrified, and then he threatened to kill you…” she was shaking more now.

“I had known the risks when I started being a superhero, but I guess I thought I was ready. I didn’t expect to be so terrified…”

Brainy gently wrapped his arms around her.

“Nia, it’s only natural that you would be scared. I would never consider you weak, and neither would any of the others. The fact that you are still willing to fight after experiencing such terror shows how brave you truly are,” said Brainy gently.

Nia let out a shaky breath.

“Nia, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what you went through there. I should have deduced the sixty-seven percent chance that something traumatic happened that day-”

“Brainy, it’s not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“I left you there. They would have killed you…” he said.

“They were more likely to kill you than me,” said Nia.

Brainy had no reply to that.

“Can we go back to sleep?” asked Nia quietly.

“Of course, Nia Nal,” he replied.

They usually slept without maintaining contact, as Nia sometimes woke suddenly from her dreams and didn’t want to startle him, but tonight, she was more than willing to fall asleep in his arms.

“You could always consider talking to Kelly about this,” suggested Brainy once they were settled.

“No, but thank you.” replied Nia.

A few minutes passed, and Brainy heard her breathing become deeper and more regular.

“I love you,” he whispered to her, even though she couldn’t hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone would like to suggest a prompt, I would love to hear your ideas! It may take a while to get to them though.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nura and Winn discuss the future after Winn gets home.

Winn stood on the balcony at the Legion Headquarters. It was almost like the one at the DEO with its view of the city.

He had been back from National City for a week, and was still relieved he had been able to get home to his family. He had managed to put Mary to bed about an hour ago, and Aila was asleep at home. Winn had wanted to check in with the Legion, but for now, everything was quiet.

“Hey Toyman.” Nura Nal greeted him. He had officially changed his call sign the day before.

“Hey Nura,” he replied. They had briefly spoken after he returned, but hadn’t seen each other since.

“So how was the trip? Besides the fear of being wanted dead or alive, what was it like?” she asked. She had never been to the past and had only heard about it from the stories Mon-El had told them and what Brainy had told her before he left again.

“It was… I mean, stuff changed, but my friends were still the same,” he said, smiling.

“How’s Brainy doing?” she asked. They had been friends before the virus had forced him to leave the future.

“He’s… he’s going through a rough time right now. But his heart’s in the right place,” said Winn, not wanting to expose his friend.

Nura simply nodded.

“What about the girl? Remember a few months ago, when the listening device that was in a pot of dirt was still working, and we heard him saying he wanted some girl to be his valentine?”

Winn tried to keep his face neutral, knowing that this news might be a bit of a shock to her. The pot of dirt that had been used to spy on the past had stopped working a few months before he had gone back in time.

“Yeah, about that… he was probably talking about Nia Nal,” said Winn, trying not to burst into laughter.

“Nia Nal as in-”

“Yeah, your ancestor.”

Nura was in shock, trying to process the news.

“So Brainy is dating my great-great-great-”

“Well, he broke up with her recently,” explained Winn, “but it was for complicated reasons and he still loves her, so they might work things out.”

“What the hell, Brainy,” muttered Nura.

“So in theory, if they did get back together, then Brainy could be your great-great-great-”

“Nope. No no no no. We’re not going to think about that,” said Nura, as Winn laughed.

A thought occurred to Nura.

“Well, at least Brainy got over you,” she commented.

“What?” asked Winn, having a feeling he already knew the answer.

“You couldn’t tell?” asked Nura, smirking. “Brainy was a little bit in love with you when he returned from the future. He wouldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Yeah, I could tell he liked me by the way he called me a 1.42-level intellect and then tried to kiss me,” said Winn, remembering the awkward encounter.

“No way!” exclaimed Nura. Winn thought she was surprised that Brainy had tried to kiss him, but she continued saying, “The highest he’s ever ranked me is as a 0.74-level intellect!”

“You mean you’re more surprised about that?” asked Winn incredulously.

“Yeah, I am,” said Nura unashamed. “But of all of the people he could have chosen to date, he had to pick my great-great-however many greats-grandma.”

There was a pause in the conversation and Nura asked, “What was she like?”

Winn didn’t need to ask, knowing she was talking about Nia.

“She was struggling. Brainy breaking up with her definitely was hurting her. But she was really cool,” Winn told her.

“I was able to give her some great advice that I got from you,” added Winn.

“You’re going to have to be more specific, all of my advice is great,” said Nura teasingly.

“I told her that no matter what, she shouldn’t let anyone question her self-worth,” said Winn.

“That is a pretty good one,” said Nura.

“Yeah,” said Winn. “She would like you. A lot. You are so similar, it’s uncanny.”

Nura said nothing for almost a minute. Nia Nal was her idol, and she had always wanted to be as much of a hero as she had been.

“Thanks for telling me this, Winn,” she said.

“No problem,” he replied with a smile. “Maybe next time you’ll be able to join me.”

“Maybe I will,” said Nura. She knew it was unlikely, but she could always hope.

“And when I see Brainy again, he and I are going to have to talk,” she added.

Winn laughed, knowing that would be a conversation he wouldn’t want to miss.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after 5x10 when Brainy breaks up with her.

“Together. Yes..” said Brainy. “That’s what has to change.”

“I-I don’t understand,” she stuttered.

Nia replayed the conversation in her head again, trying to make sense of it. All she wanted for him was to be himself. And if that meant he couldn’t be with her, that was fine.

Well, it hurt, but maybe she could understand.

Maybe if he had just told her why.

All of his decisions seemed to be based on logic, so why couldn’t he at least tell her what made him do this?

She realized she had been standing there, staring at the door, for the past five minutes. She walked to her bedroom, changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed.

Alone.

She had gotten so used to his warmth, his presence, and now that he was gone… it was just empty.

Was it something she had done? Maybe he felt like she had been trying to suppress his true self, even though all she ever wanted was the opposite.

All the times he told her he loved her… was it a lie? How long had she been making him want to end things?

What had she done wrong?

The shock began to wear off and the tears started coming. Soon, she was curled up and sobbing.

She felt selfish for feeling this way. Maybe Brainy would finally be the person he wanted to be, just as she wanted.

But she had always thought she would be with him no matter what.

She couldn’t even tell how she felt. Nia wanted to be angry about the lack of explanation but this was Brainy. She loved him, even though it hurt.

Nia didn’t remember falling asleep, but she woke up the next morning, she woke up to the sunlight streaming through the window. She had forgotten to set an alarm and overslept.

She rushed into the bathroom to get ready, but when she looked in the mirror, her eyes were red and slightly swollen. It would take more skills than she had with makeup to completely cover it, but she did the best she could.

A half-hour later, she arrived at Catco. She desperately hoped Andrea didn’t notice her absence, and she was in luck. Andrea was at her desk speaking with William and hadn’t noticed her extremely late entrance. Nia got to her desk and started working on the latest fashion article.

Kara was passing by and rushed over to Nia, who barely glanced at her.

“Nia, are you okay? You were late, which is so unlike you and I was worried you had been attacked, or-”

“Kara,” said Nia turning in her chair, “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Nia, have you been crying? Who did this to you?”

“No one, Kara, I’m fine, just leave me alone!” snapped Nia. She felt awful as soon as the words left her mouth. Kara had just been trying to help.

“If you won’t tell me, then I’m calling Brainy, and you know he’ll come in here and do something embarrassing again.”

“Go ahead,” replied Nia flatly. “See if he bothers to come.” Her voice shook a little on the last part, and she hated it.

“Nia, did something happen with you and Brainy? After he took off the inhibitors?”

Nia stopped typing. If she let it all out to Kara, there was a chance that she wouldn’t be able to keep it together.

“Brainy broke up with me last night,” said Nia, trying to sound nonchalant.

“What!? Why would he do that? I mean you two were so...you know, in love and what not! He was obsessed with you and practically stalked you after you met,” Kara said, shocked.

“I really don’t want to talk about this at work, but it’s fine. I always told him he could be himself around me, but I guess that didn’t work out so well. It’s going to be okay,” said Nia.

Kara took Nia’s hand. “I’m here for you if you need me. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” replied Nia, smiling. “Thank you.”

Kara went back to her desk and Nia continued to work on the fashion reports.

At five, Nia packed up and left. She hadn’t eaten lunch and got everything done earlier than usual, which was good, since she needed a little time alone.

She got home and heard voices. It sounded as though they were coming from her apartment! She was immediately on the alert and put on her dream-power gloves-the gloves that Brainy had designed for her.

She unlocked the door and paused. The voices had stopped, but just before she opened the door, there was a small thud from someone in the apartment, followed by silence. There was definitely someone, if not more than one person in her home.

Nia took a deep breath and opened the door, raising her gloved hand, which was glowing with dream energy.

She found herself face to face with Kelly, Alex, and Kara. Kara was holding five boxes of pizza.

It was from the same place where she had met Brainy, she noted with sadness.

Why did everything have to remind her of him?

“Surprise! We heard what happened and brought you dinner,” said Kelly, enveloping Nia in a hug.

“And drinks,” added Alex, holding three bottles of liquor.

“Guys, I appreciate the food, but you didn’t need to do all of this!” exclaimed Nia.

“It was about time we came to see you anyway, there have been far too many missions without you lately,” said Kara.

“Really, it was just a breakup. You don’t need to make a big deal over it,” said Nia. She just didn’t want to think about it, and she couldn’t do that with the three of them there.

“We know. But we’re family, and we’re going to be here for you whether you like it or not,” said Kara, pulling her into a hug. Kelly joined them and dragged Alex with her.

Nia felt tears pricking the back of her eyes. She remembered her real family, Maeve, who had also said she’d be there for Nia, but wasn’t.

Kara squeezed her tightly as if she sensed where her thoughts had gone.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” said Nia, meaning it more than they could know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of content recently, I'm not doing great in math and needed to study a lot.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brainy has recovered from the radiation poisoning from Leviathan's ship, but may need more help if he wants to return to the person he used to be before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the lack of content. I'm not going to abandon you, I promise. I was almost failing geometry though and needed to focus on school.  
> On a more positive note, Supergirl Season 6 is coming out on March 30th!!!!! I'm so excited for more Brainia content. If they do not get back together, I will be so angry.

It had been two weeks since Brainy had been rescued from Leviathan’s ship. He had been released from the hospital a day ago and Nia had taken him to her apartment. No one had questioned her decision after seeing the way Brainy held onto her after they left.

Alex had figured Nia would be able to get Brainy to relax now that he was safe. Out of all of them, she had the best chance of being successful.

But the next time she had seen them, Brainy was still tightly holding on to Nia. Nia had walked away for a moment to greet Alex, and she had seen the panic on his face for a split second. It didn't go away until Nia came back to him.

Nia had noticed the increase in Brainy’s need for physical contact. She wasn’t going to do anything about it at first. He had been through a terrible ordeal, and she was going to do everything in her power to make him feel better.

Three days after leaving Catco, Nia returned to Catco. She had taken several days off to take care of him and had visited the hospital a lot, so she was quite behind on her work.

He had taken the news of her going back fine, saying he didn’t want to get in the way of her job. Nia had reassured him that he wasn’t getting in the way, but the truth was, she really needed to get back or Andrea would most likely fire her.

Supergirl and the rest of the team still couldn’t find Lex or Lillian Luthor. Lena was at the Tower almost every waking hour trying to track them, but so far had found nothing.

Nia arrived at Catco at eight and immediately got to work. There had been a stack of files left on her desk. Kara had been trying to do some of her work using her super-speed, something Nia was very grateful for.

She worked with relatively no interruptions for about two hours. She looked at what she had left to do. Most of it could wait, so she opened another window on her computer.

She used her Catco database to research Lex Luthor. Maybe there was something on this earth that had been covered by Catco that would help her find him.

Most of the information she found was about awards he had won, accomplishments, and Nia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

She continued to scroll through the information when there was a commotion by the elevator.

Someone was being escorted away from the desks by armed security guards. Nia leaned in her chair to get a better look at the intruder, and was shocked by what she saw.

It was Brainy.

Nia raced over to the guards and asked “What are you doing? He’s not a threat!”

“Since the failed launch of Obsidian Platinum, Ms. Rojas decided to tighten security here. This man is not a faculty member and needs to be removed from the premises,” replied the guard.

Brainy had been struggling against the two men, but when Nia approached, he stopped for the most part.

“I think there’s been a mistake,” said Nia calmly. “He’s my boyfriend, and I can take it from here.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to follow protocol,” replied the other guard.

Nia sighed. She hoped Brainy had a good reason for showing up.

“All right,” she conceded. “I’ll be accompanying you out, though.”

The guards didn’t bother arguing with her, and they rode the elevator downstairs in silence. Brainy was escorted out of the building and into the bright sunlight outside. Nia followed and waited until the guards had gone back inside.

“What are you doing here? Is something wrong?” asked Nia urgently. Kara had been at Catco all day with her and Nia hadn’t heard from the Tower at all.

“You were investigating Lex Luthor,” said Brainy. It was a statement, not a question.

“I figured Catco’s database might have some information on him from this earth. What were you doing looking at my work computer anyways?” asked Nia.

Brainy ignored her question. “You need to stop doing that. It could be traced back to you and we still don’t know where he is. There is an eighty-seven percent chance that at least three people in the Obsidian North building have ties to Lex and any one of them could be watching. You could be killed, why can’t you understand that?” He was anxiuosly pacing.

Realization struck Nia. Brainy was worried about her.

“Brainy, listen to me,” she said gently, taking his hand. “I’m going to be okay. I’m Dreamer, remember? I can take care of myself.”

Brainy said nothing for almost a full minute. When he did speak, it was so soft she could barely hear him.

“I can’t lose you again,” he said.

Nia didn’t know what to say at first.

“You’re not going to,” she reassured him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace.

“Let’s just go back home for today,” she suggested.

“That would be great,” said Brainy, sounding more relaxed than he had in months.

“I need to get my stuff from upstairs, I’m a little behind on my work,” said Nia, letting go of his hand.

Brainy looked like he was about to panic, but he let her go. Nia gathered her things as quickly as she could, not wanting to worry him.

When she returned outside, he was waiting for her and immediately took her hand once she was close to him.

They walked back to her apartment. Nia sat down on the couch and opened her computer. Brainy sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. Nia gave him a small smile and snuggled closer to him.

They stayed like that for a few hours, with Nia working and Brainy using his abilities to scan for any sign of Lex Luthor, on the web or on security cameras.

Nia’s phone chimed, and she saw a text from Kara to the group chat inviting them to lunch at the Tower. Lena responded immediately, saying she'd be there.

Nia looked at Brainy.

“How does lunch with the Super friends sound?” she asked, willing to stay home if he didn’t want to go.

“I would love to attend, if you will be there,” he replied. Nia replied to the chat saying they would be there.

They left the apartment and arrived at the tower fifteen minutes later. Brainy had held her hand for the entire walk. Nia was beginning to get used to the constant affection, but it had been hard to adjust to at first.

J’onn, Alex, Kelly, and Kara were already there and had gotten takeout from Noonan’s. Lena was still at the computers running a new scan to attempt to find Lex, but was clearly not making any progress.

Nia watched Kara gently move her away from the screen, taking her hand and pulling her to the table J’onn had set up. Nia smiled, remembering all of the times she had needed to drag Brainy away from his desk at the DEO.

At least, when the DEO was still standing.

Alex spotted the two of them.

“Nia! Brainy! It’s good to see you both,” she said.

“How’s life as a vigilante?” asked Nia. So far she had only been able to join Alex on patrol once since she had left the DEO, but Alex had seemed to be adjusting well.

She smiled. “I didn’t think I could ever leave the DEO but… I love this. It’s fulfilling, which is something I had needed after leaving.”

“That’s great,” said Nia.

Alex noticed how Brainy hadn’t let go of her since they had arrived. She had hoped that Nia would be able to help him recover from the past few months, but it seemed that it would take more time.

There was a knock on the door of the hidden room.

“I’ll get it,” said Nia. Without thinking, she let go of Brainy’s hand and walked across the room to the door.

Alex saw Brainy’s face go pale, and he stepped forward as if to stop her.

Nia opened the door and M’gann came inside. She had taken afternoon patrol, so it was no surprise that she had been late.

The tension in Brainy’s face subsided a little, but didn’t go away until Nia was at his side again.

Alex met Kelly’s eye from across the room. Kelly approached her wordlessly, sensing that her girlfriend had something on her mind.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

Alex took a deep breath.

“I think you should offer to give Brainy therapy,” said Alex, not sure of how else to put it.

Kelly nodded, seeming unsurprised by this idea.

Alex went on, saying, “I mean, you saw the look on his face when she left him to open the door. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack. I just want to help him heal, and I know you can do that better than anyone else here.”

“Of course,” said Kelly. “I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

“Great,” said Alex. “Now we just need to explain this to Nia and Brainy.” She sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“I’ve got this,” said Kelly.

Kelly approached Brainy and Nia, who were engaged in conversation with Kara.

“Can I talk to you two for a minute?” Kelly asked Nia and Brainy.

“Of course,” said Nia, concern showing on her face.

Kelly led them to a quieter room in the Tower where the meetings were usually held. She noticed Brainy made sure he entered the room before Nia, as if to protect her from anything inside that could hurt her. He also hadn’t let go of her since M’gann had arrived.

“Brainy, I know what you went through in the months before defeating Leviathan must have been horrible. You had needed to cut ties with everyone you cared about and isolate yourself with the enemy,” Kelly began.

Brainy nodded wordlessly, not wanting to remember.

“That’s why Alex and I thought that, with your consent of course, I could help you recover and heal,” said Kelly.

“My health is in perfect condition,” said Brainy, either ignoring what she meant or not comprehending it.

“I don’t doubt that,” said Kelly, “but I think there may have been some harm done to you that statistics and vitals can’t see.”

Understanding dawned on Brainy. “You want to give me therapy.”

Kelly nodded. “Yes. You may not think you need it, but it’s good for anyone, even people who have suffered lesser trials than what you went through.”

Nia listened to what Kelly was saying. It made sense, and she hoped maybe this would be the key to helping Brainy recover.

Brainy looked to Nia for advice.

“Nia, what is your opinion on this matter?” he asked hesitantly.

“It’s completely your choice,” said Nia. “But I really think Kelly could help you more than I ever could in this.”

Brainy thought for a moment.

“My calculations have come to the conclusion that there is an eighty-seven percent chance that this will be beneficial.

“So I will accept your offer and take therapy from you,” he said with a bit of uncertainty.

“Great." Kelly smiled. “I can get you an appointment on Thursday at four. Nia, you should come too.” She knew Nia would have probably showed up anyway, but might as well make her feel welcome.

They rejoined the Superfriends, and as Nia walked out of the Tower beside Brainy, she was filled with hope that maybe he would be able to return to his old self with Kelly’s help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you want a part two of this that has the therapy session? Let me know what you think. I have never been to therapy, I have only read therapy fics, so my writing of it might not be very accurate or even good.


End file.
